Tolerance of selected crop and pasture species to lime-treated acid mine water

The use of mine waters with high CaSO{sub 4} loads creates problems for both the mining industry and the regulatory government departments. One of the alternative strategies is to use such water to irrigate crops on the mine property. To do this the relative sensitivity of different crops to such water and the long term effects on the soil need to be assessed. This report refers to pot studies conducted under glasshouse conditions using corn, sorghum, soybean, pearl millet, cowpeas, rye, oats, triticale, wheat and ryegrass. Although treated mine water had significant effects on different growth parameters and ratios (corn, soybean, rye and ryegrass being the most strongly affected), the most notable results was the uptake of large amounts of Ca Mg, SO{sub 4}, Mn, and Zn by virtually all species. Although the uptake was increased, the concentrations were still within acceptable limits for plant growth. These concentrations may, however, hold implications for animals and humans. There is an urgent need for such work to be continued to assess the influence of different levels of salt and the allocation of elements to different plant parts.